Gantz vows to annex Jordan Valley after elections. Netanyahu asks: why not now?
Benny Gantz
Yumna Patel reports in Mondoweiss:
Benny Gantz, the leader of the “centrist” Blue & White party and main challenger to the premiership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed on Tuesday to annex the Jordan Valley if he wins the Israeli elections on March 2. “We see this strip of land as an inseparable part of the State of Israel,” Gantz said on a tour of the region, highlighting the Jordan Valley’s strategic location as “Israel’s eastern defensive barrier in any future conflict.”
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Chairman of the Arab Joint List Ayman Odeh, who previously endorsed Gantz as the only chance to defeat Netanyahu, criticized Gantz’s announcement, tweeting “the citizens of the country deserve hope and not imitation – that’s not how a prime minister is replaced.” “Annexation is the elimination of any chance of democracy and peace,” he said. “You’ve probably forgotten that there is life after the campaign, too.” “The pathetic attempt to appease a few voices from the right is not worth the destruction of the future of us all.”